Artificial jaws for dentures



' Feb. '17, 1970 J. A. Jse'm 3,

iifiii-Q 34 Y ARTIFICIAL JAWS FOR DENTURES- Fil ed-April 20, 1966 2 sheets-sheet 1 Fig.) Q 4 wasp John A. Joseph INVENTOR.

' Feb. 17, 1970 J. A. JQSEPH 3,495,332

, ARTIFICIAL JAWS FOR DENTURES Filed April 20, 1966 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 John A. Joseph IN VENTOR.

BY MWMMMQW United States Patent Office 3,495,332 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 3,495,332 ARTIFICIAL JAWS FOR DENTURES John A. Joseph, 23 Ark Ave., Rezaieh, Azerbaijan, Iran Filed Apr. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 543,840

Int. Cl. A61c 13/12 U.S. Cl. 32-4 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to dental prosthetics and more particularly to dentures which feature artificial aws.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide in combination with upper and lower dentures, facilities for holding the dentures in contact with the gums and palate of a patients mouth with a continuous and regulated pressure so as to insure that the dentures continuously remain in proper position within the mouth without any conscious effort or assistance on the part of the patient.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide in combination with sets of upper and lower dentu-res, a pair of artifical jaws which interconnect the dentures while biasing them to an open or separated position at a predetermined angle slightly in excess of the angle corresponding to the fully open mouth position of the patient within which the dentures are installed.

-In accordance with the foregoing objects, dentures featuring the artificial jaws of the present invention may be constructed with substantially less base material than was heretofore deemed necessary so that the dentures will be more comfortable in the patients mouth. The artificial jaws of the present invention will also eliminate the need for a critical dimensioning of the upper denture plate thickness in order to maintain the weight thereof at -a minimum and substantially reduce the amount of foreign material in the mouth contacted by the patients tongue.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide in combination with upper and lower dentures, artificial jaws for maintaining partial dentures in contact with the patients gums with-out anchoring thereof on the natural teeth of the patient and without imposing any wear on the dentures themselves by use of facilities that do not involve any substantial relative movement of parts.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing-s forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side sectional view through an articulator mounting upper and lower dentures in the process of having the artificial jaws installed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional view through a set of upper and lower dentures in an open position with the artifical jaws installed.

FIGURE 2a is a side sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing the dentures in a closed position.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 3-3 in FIGURE 20.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 4-4 in FIG- URE 2w.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing a pair of artificial jaws constructed in accordance with the present invention prior to installation.

FIGURE 6 is a side sectional view of a set of upper and lower dentures with modified forms of artificial jaws installed.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 7-7 in FIG- URE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 8-8 in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of one of the artifical jaws associated with the dentures shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIGURE 10 is a side elevational view of a measuring compass utilized in connection with the jaw installation procedure of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be observed from FIGS. 2 through 5, that a pair of artificial jaws consisting of a left jaw element 10 and a right jaw element 12, are installed between an upper denture 14 and a lower denture 16. The dentures 14 and 16 are of a wellknown construction including an upper metallic frame 18 for the denture base to which the artificial teeth 20 are secured, the frame also supporting the gum-appearing material 22 which is cured to a rigid surface that is polished, this material being usually made of some sort of acrylic. Similarly, the lower denture 16 includes a base made of a metallic frame 24 to which the lower artificial teeth 26 ported. The artificial jaws 10 and 12 are connected to the left and right sides of both dentures 14 and 16 extending rearwardly therefrom so as to urge the dentures apart to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 2. The angular position of the dentures shown in FIG. 2 will therefore be slightly in excess of the fully open mouth position assumed by the dentures when installed in the mouth of a patient in order to insure that the artificial jaws exert a bias on the dentures against the patients gums at all times.

As more clearly seen in FIG. 5, each of the artificial jaws includes a lower rigid portion 30 which is horizontally elongated. The rigid portion 30 may therefore be made of a strip of a suitable metal resisting deformation in a vertical plane and having a forward upturned end portion from which a lateral anchoring end 32 extends from the vertical plane. The rear end of the rigid portion 30 extends upwardly at a rearward angle and is connected as by soldering to the lower end of an elastically flexible spring wire 34. The spring wire rather than being coiled forms an open loop as shown. The upper end of the spring wire is also connected to an arcuate rigid portion 36 disposed in the same general plane and made of the same material as the lower rigid portion 30'. The upper end of the arcuate strip 36 is also provided with a laterally extending anchoring end 38. Except for the opposite directions in which the anchoring ends 32 and 38 extend, both of the artificial jaws 10 and 12 are identical in construction. It will also be observed from FIGS. 2, 2a, 3 and 4 that the lower rigid portions 30 of the artificial jaws are embedded in the acrylic material 28 by means of the laterally extending ends 32 intermediate the forward and rear ends of the denture 16. The lower rigid portions also extend rearwardly from the lingual sides of the lower denture terminating at the spring wire 34 rearwardly and above the lower denture. The upper arcuate portions 36" of the artificial jaws on the other hand are anchored by means of the anchoring ends 38 to the lingual sides upper denture 14 rearwardly spaced from the anchoring ends 32. Toward this end, the anchoring ends 38 of the upper portions 36 are received within a hole 39 in the left and right rear ends of the upper denture.

The dentures are constructed in the usual fashion but are installed in the patients mouth before the acrylic material 22 and 28 is applied to the denture base frames 18 and 24. The patient is then instructed to open the mouth as far as possible so that the spacing between the left and right sides of the upper and lower dentures may be measured by means of the angular measuring instrument 40 shown in FIG. 10. The dentures are then removed from the patients mouth and held together in a closed position by means of wax. The upper denture is then mounted on the upper plate 42 of articulator 44 as shown in FIG. 1 by means of the plaster 46 while the lower denture is mounted on the pivotally adjustable arm 48 of the articulator by means of the plaster 50. The open-mouth measurement taken from the patient is utilized to adjust the position of the pivotally'adjustable arm 48 as shown in FIG. 1 wherein the upper and lower dentures are spread apart approximately 3 millimeters more than the spacing between the dentures as measured in the open-mouth position of the patient. The adjusted position of the lower denture relative to the upper denture is then set on the bottom base 52 of the articulator by means of the plaster 54.

After the articulator has been adjusted, the dentures are removed from the articulator and the lower rigid portions 30 of the artificial jaws and 12 are respectively secured at the same locations to the left and right inner sides of the lower denture by applying the acrylic material 22. The lower and upper dentures are then mounted once again on the adjusted articulator as shown in FIG. 1 so that the upper rigid portions 36 of the artificial jaws may be located on the lingual sides of the upper denture 14 and secured thereto at such locations by means of the acrylic material 22. It will be appreciated, that the artificial jaws 10 and 12 will then interconnect the upper and lower dentures in an undeformed state with the upper and lower dentures spread apart slightly in excess of the separation therebetween in the fully opened position of the patients'mouth.

FIGS. 6-9 illustrate a modified form of artificial jaw 56 which is similar to the artificial jaws 10 and 12 except that the rigid upper portions 58 are anchored to the upper denture 14 in a different manner. The artificial jaws 56 include pivotal anchoring formation 60 at the upper ends of the upper portions 58 through Which the nails 62 extend into the holes 39 as more clearly seen in FIG. 7. The artificial jaws of this type will be more suitable for those patients in which the open-mouth spacing is more than the normal amount.

It will be appreciated that the dimensions of the artificial jaws are selected in accordance with the oral dimensions of the patient so that they will properly span partial dentures as well as full dentures as illustrated and when so applied may eliminate the need for anchoring hooks for holding the partial dentures in position. Thus, the dentures may be worn by persons even during sleep and with less danger of separation while eating when embodying the artificial jaw elements of the present invention. Further, the upper as Well as the lower dentures 14 and 16 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 avoid the use of any acrylic or other tissue covering material at a location between the canine teeth and rearwardly therefrom providing a lighter, and more natural feeling denture set.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with upper and lower dentures having gum conforming bases, a pair of integral artificial jaw members interconnecting the bases of the upper and lower dentures, each artificial jaw member comprising, a rigid elongate-:1 portion rigidly anchored to a lingual side of the base of the lower denture and extending rearwardly therefrom, a rigid arcuate portion connected to a lingual side of the upper denture extending downwardly from a rear end thereof and elastically flexible portion forming an open loop interconnecting the rigid portions and spaced rearwardly of the dentures for biasing the upper and lower dentures to a separated position at a predetermined angle to each other, said rigid portions 'being made from a strip of metal interconnected by the flexible portion substantially in a common plane, said flexible portion being made of spring wire soldered to the rigid portions.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said rigid portions of each artificial jaw member include laterally extending anchoring ends, the anchoring end of the elongated rigid portion being embedded in the base of the lower denture in forwardly spaced relation to the anchoring end of the rigid arcuate portion.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bases are made of a metal frame and a curable rigid material within which the rigid portions are embedded.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5,181 7/1847 Stuart 324 584,345 6/1897 Gilmer 322 1,161,141 11/1915 Lewis 324 2,036,678 4/1936 Blake 322 2,666,988 1/1954 Myers 324 2,876,546 3/ 1959 Heydenreich 32-4 1,473,673 11/1923 Elsas 324 2,309,084 1/ 1943 Wintrebert 324 ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary Examiner 

